Anybody a mechanic?

Well, I can tell you guys what is not causing the problem.

It's not the fuel system relay, replaced that this morning, at a cost of $13.99

It's not the fuel pressure regulator, replaced that this morning, at a cost of $65.99

Might be the fuel pump, rented a fuel pressure test, suppose to have 55 -62 psi, I had 13-15 psi. Which raises more question that nobody has been able to answer. First off, supposedly, it won't run on less than 35 psi, I got it started twice today and it ran for about 2 minutes then died again, how? Second, if the pump is running, but not putting that much pressure out, why doesn't it keep running, how is it shutting off?

Anyway, pulled the pump tonight, got the new one in, but it didn't come with new pressure line clips, so back to the parts store tomorrow morning. It was espically fun that GM put no thought in their design. Why on earth does the fuel pump have to be in the tank? How many years did they have it on the block, running off the cam shaft, seemed to work just fine and oh, replacing only took about 30 minutes. Why cann't they design a pump that works for longer than 6 years? Why not put some for thought into the tank installation, so that it can be removed without 3 hours of work, like decent bolts and nuts welded to the frame, instead of cheap clip nuts than break free and then you loss the skin on our knuckles?

Can you tell I am not in my happy spot right now? Somebody cross their fingers for me tomorrow that this fixes the problem.
 
Watched a "How it's made" where they showed one made step by step. The engineering looked impressive but the part looked cheap. Hope that fixes your problem.
 
Whoever said a pray for me last night, thanks.

Went to the parts store this morning picked up the clips, got home and had it off the jacks and running in an hour.

Still don't understand a few things here, but at least it's running.

Thanks everyone for your input.
 
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Why not put some for thought into the tank installation, so that it can be removed without 3 hours of work, like decent bolts and nuts welded to the frame, instead of cheap clip nuts than break free and then you loss the skin on our knuckles?
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Andrew,

I see things like this more and more where I work, when building an assembly machine for a manufacturer. Unfortunately it's not about service and repair. It is all about, "How quickly can the original part be manufactured?". As an example, using clip nuts (1) eliminates a couple steps in the building process (2) allows for more misalignment between mating parts (3) clip nut is cheaper to buy (for the manufacturer) than other choices

In todays "throw away" society, a lot of automobiles seem to be built to "replace" rather than "repair". A situation I feel will be unfortunate in the long run.
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Andrew,

Glad you got it running! Those fuel systems can be a bit weird. As far as why things are put together the way they are, Dave hit the nail right on the head. It's all about the assembly process not the repair process. Back in my heavy equipment repair days I had the "opportunity" to chew the fat with a J*** D**** (name hidden to protect the innocent) engineer about the way stuff was built to be difficult to repair. His quote: "We don't give a F*** what it takes to repair! It's all about minimizing assembly cost to maximize profit!". By the way, he was out to help me diagnose/repair a problem. He was on our side, his reply was a bit sarcastic/ tounge in cheek but oh so true.

Jim S
 
Andrew, one thing to think about is dont use HEAT! HEAt contains methanol and will take out O2 sensors faster than a village idiot with a hammer! I found that out the hard way. Glad things worked out for you and you got it running.
 
Exactly the same thing hit my old Suburban except I was 200 miles from home when it happened, so had to let the guy in a station that was close enough to get it into replace the pump and fuel filters. Cost me $400 and hastened the date I sold the Suburban.

I agree the placement of the pump in the tank makes a fix a major wazoo pain.
Hope you have no more surprises like that.

Best,
Harry
 
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